Between life and death
by scarylett
Summary: Rory is dying  again  there is only one way to save him.


Most people felt it perfectly noram to say their best friends had one heart, was from the planet Earth, and had a mildly interesting job, such as a zookeeper, or a taxi driver. Most people who travel around do so by airplane, boats, or a train. That reason is that most people aren't Amy and Rory Williams. Amy and Rory's best friend was different from most, in the sense that he didn't ride a train or work at the zoo, or even have the pleasure of being from the planet Earth at all! In fact, the Doctor was an alien, with two hearts. The Doctor, as his name may argue, wasn't even a Doctor at all. Wheather or not he even had a medical degree, Amy and Rory didn't know. They did know, however, that he had a degree in cheese-making, though it had never been useful to them so far.

Amy and Rory travelled with the Doctor, but not just around the country-side, but all through time and space, in a blue police box. The police box was called the TARDIS, which stood for Time and reletive demminsions in space. There was a rule about travelling with the Doctor, a rule that all companions of the Doctor follow, and it is something that comes up quite often: There is an awful lot of running. Now running is something that only saves you based on two factors. One, that you are running fast enough (or in some cases, slow enough) and two, that you are running in the right direction. Rory, durring his travels with the Doctor, found that the second factor was very important. He sometimes found himself running straight into whatever it was he was trying to avoid. Even though Rory found himself facing death (and sometimes actually dying) far more frequently than a man who's best friend drove a taxi and had one heart, he still loved travelling with the Doctor, especially with his wife, and occasionally his half-alien daughter (but that's another story.)

Now one morning, the Doctor had decided it was a perfect day to visit planet number 394, in a large strip of planets parallel to a strip of moons. "It's very interesting" he told Amy and Rory, as they ate breakfast. "You can see all 404 moons from whichever planet you are on, at almost any time of day!" Amy looked interested. Rory looked skeptical. "Does that mean, that it's always night time?" he asked the Doctor. "Sort of" the Doctor replied. "Though they do have a sun, I mean, all 404 planets sharing one sun, that's a hell of a solar system!" He smiled and stood up "But of course, the sun travels around long ways, so you get about 5 hours of sunlight in about a year."

But apparently the amount of sunlight didn't matter to the Doctor, because before you could say 'Fish-custard' he had landed the TARDIS on planet 394, and they were all walking in different directions. "Oh, I can't see aniything!" Amy said, looking into a group of dark trees. "Use your flashlight!" said the Doctor, who was using his own sonic screwdriver, which had a bright green light, to investigate a clump of strange plants that looked like venus fly traps with yellow spots.

Rory decided to do the same, and fumbled for the switch on his flashlight. He clicked it on and raised it to look into the trees, what he saw made him wish he was still in darkness. Looming over most of the trees, and Rory himself was a large creature. It looked a bit like and elephant, except it had two trunks! It was also a dark blue with black wings on it's back. Rory screamed, or atleast tried to, but he found his voice stuck in his throat, The eleplant-beats raised one of it's trunks high above Rory and zapped him with yellow lightning. The lightning hit Rory with a force that splintered the trees around him. Amy and The Doctor spun around and ran to his side just in time to see the beast stalk away into the trees.

"Rory!" Amy crouched down by his side and peered into his face. "Can you hear me? Are you okay?" her voice was shaking as if she would burst into tears at any moment. Rory didn't look at all okay, he looked like a stick that had been in a fire a long while, his arms and face were burnt with patches of dark soot coating his face. Rory made a noise, a noise that sounded a bit like a dying animal. "Rory...?" The Doctor bent down over him. Rory slowly opened his eyes, and when he spoke, his voice sounded scratchy, as if he were speaking through a sheet of torn metal. "It's never enough, is it?" The Doctor tried to sooth Rory. "Hush now.." he said awkwardly, there wasn't much he could do really. "No!" Rory pratically yelled. Amy was crying silently, watching him with wide, bloodshot eyes. "It's never enough that I have to constantly watch my wife get put in danger, it's never enough that I never got to properlly raise my daughter, but I have to die too! All the time with the dying! Well atleast I'll go for good now, no dreams or ghosts to save me now."

The Doctor silently thought Rory was right, there was nothing here to save him now. "He's not going to die, is he?" Amy was shaking, wringing her hands. The Doctor didn't say anything, he just watched Rory, the light was beginging to fade from his eyes. "I'm so, so, sorry" The Doctor told Rory. "So, sorry, but there's nothing I can do, the blast from a creature of planet 394 is fatal..." Amy began to wail loudly. "You've got to help him, you've just got to!"

The Doctor looked at Rory, who was watching him with whatever strength he had left, though he didn't look angry.

Suddenly, the Doctor was struck with an idea, and idea so stupidly brilliant. 'Would it work?' he wondered. It had sure saved his own life once, but would it work on a human? Amy interupted his thoughts. "..Doctor?" she asked, she was shaking and crying, and watching Rory, who looked dead already except for the slight rise and fall of his chest.

The Doctor decided to try it, there was no way he was losing Rory without a fight.

"Listen to me, the both of you" The Doctor said, a determination in his voice. He wasn't sure Rory could hear him, but he wanted to give a fair warning just in case. "I'm going to try something, I don't know if it will work, but it's worth a try." He fixed them both with a gaze "It's strictly life-saving business, alright?" Amy nodded.

The Doctor bent over Rory, and tilted his face up. He slowly closed his eyes and leaned down, covering Rory's mouth with his own. He heard Amy gasp nearby, and felt Rory tense up slightly, but then relax.

'I need to save him, I need an enrgy transfer, I need to save his life' he Doctor felt as if a large wave of hot air was slowly building up frim inside him. It slowly moved up to his face and finally, through gis mouth and into Rory's. The Doctor sat up and looked down at Rory. His mouth was glowing with a familiar fire, the blisters and scars on his arms and face began to lighten. The Doctor knew what came next. "Get down!" he pulled Amy out of the way and whipped his head around just in time to see.

Rory's arms and face were glowing, when suddenly he bursted large quanties of golden fire erupted from his arms and face, he groaned. 'He's regenerating.' The Doctor realized. Suddenly it stopped. Rory slowly sat up. He looked no different. His face was still the same, though he was better. He was no onger burnt or scratched, in fact any scar he

had had on his face was gone now. He was still the same, but newer. He had lived, and the Doctor had saved him.

Rory looked at them. They were both watching him with wide eyes. "..Hello" he said, shakily. "You're alive!" Amy flung her arms around his neck. She was crying of joy now. "Alright mate?" The Doctor asked, standing up, and holding out a hand to Rory. "..Yea" Rory replied "What did you do to me?" he asked. "Oh, just a simple energy transfer, Time Lord stuff..." he said airily. He began to walk towards the TARDIS, Amy and Rory following.

"Wait" said Rory "Do you mean to tell me you use one of your lives,on me!" He sounded appalled. "Of course!" said the Doctor, who looked over his shoulder at Rory. "What was I supposed to do? Let you die!" He pulled out his TARDIS key and unlocked the door. He stepped in side, they followed. "But your lives" Rory said weakly. "Now you have one less..." The Doctor began flipping switches. "So? I have like a million of them! Well, not really. Besides, it doesn't matter if I've got three! The point is you're safe and alive." The Doctor ran his fingers through his hair. "Well, where to next?" he smiled at them and began to suggest some large museum of a planet, but Rory wasn't listening.

"I'm going to bed" he said, finally. As he climbed the steps and walked slowly towards bed, he couldn't help the thought that now he shared more with the Doctor that a bit of life in their bones. Now, they shared a strange bond, an unspoken one that only those who've regenerated know. Rory flopped down onto bed and closed his eyes. As all thoughts faded from his mind, only one stayed: 'Thanks, Doctor.'


End file.
